FA L L 2 0 1 4

VO L U M E 3 5

ISSUE 3

The Friends mission is to protect, preserve and restore the wilderness character of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
and the Quetico-Superior Ecosystem. The organization was founded in 1976.

Friends protects more land

at the Edge of the Wilderness
T h i s N o v e m b e r, t h e
Superior National Forest
grew a little bit, by 28
acres to be precise. After
several years of waiting for
funding, the Superior
National Forest took possession of two parcels
directly across from the
Fall Lake Campground.
Instead of seeing development at the edge of
the wilderness, this land
has now been permanently protected as part
of the Superior National
Forest, thanks to Friends
members and donors.
The Friends of the
Boundary Waters Wilderness has many programs
to protect the BWCA
and keep it wild. O n e o f
them is land acquisition This Fall Lake shoreline is now permanently protected.
through the Edge of the Wilderness Fund. The Edge of the Wilderness
Fund is used to protect lands bordering (or in close proximity to) the
BWCA Wilderness with an eye toward protecting land with specific
characteristics. Some of these include connecting canoe routes,
creating new ones, protecting special scenic, cultural or ecological
values, and preventing development or degradation of wilderness
character. Its a revolving fund, administered in partnership
with the Trust for Public Land.
When the Superior National Forest becomes aware of privately
held properties with owners that wish to sell, the Edge of the
Wilderness Fund can be used to acquire these properties and
hold them until appropriations are available for the federal
government to purchase them. Then the fund can be used to
protect and hold another critical property. Previously, the Fund
was used to acquire and convey the former Chainsaw Sisters
property near the Mudro Lake entry point. After the Chainsaw
Sisters saloon went out of business, the owners wanted to sell the

30 acre property. If it had

been sold and developed,
it could have denied
access to the wilderness
at Mudro Lake. The Edge
of the Wilderness Fund
allowed us to preserve
access to this popular
entry point.
The Fall Lake-Duvall
and Fall Lake-Laur properties total more than 28
acres, have nearly 1,000
feet of frontage on Fall
Lake, and share a quarter
of a mile boundary with
the BWCAW. They are located within the Mining
Protection Zone of the
Superior National Forest
and are primarily upland
forest with some forested
wetlands. They were
among the last privately
owned properties located on the northern peninsula of Fall Lake.
These parcels were highly developable as they are located on a
motorized entry point to the BWCAW. The protection of the scenic
and recreational attributes of the properties was important to the
Superior National Forest, since the renovated Fall Lake campground
is located across the lake.
Also, in a separate transaction, the Superior National Forest
announced in November that they had completed a land swap on the
western edge of the BWCA with two private property owners and
Crane Lake Township. In that swap, the Forest Service exchanged federal land in and near the town of Crane Lake needed for development
and for a future town hall for 265 acres adjacent to the BWCAW.
These moves to protect land at the edge of Boundary Waters
are good news for the wilderness itself. Thanks to the foresight of
donors who allowed us to establish the Friends's Edge of the
Wilderness Fund, we can continue to identify critical lands and
preserve them for the future. !

Masthead photo: JimBrandenburg.com ! Printed on paper using 100% post-consumer waste, processed chlorine free.

Executive Director Corner

The National Wilderness Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico
this month was a celebration of
fifty years of the Wilderness Act and
a dissection of all the challenges
conservationists will face in the
next fifty years. The Friends staff
attended along with over a thousand other advocates, land managers and stakeholders in order to
learn from the elders and network
with a national audience. And, of
course, to tell all who would listen Executive Director, Paul Danicic
about the sulfide mining threat to the Boundary Waters, our nations
most visited wilderness.
I was lucky enough to present about our work with the Heart of the
Continent Partnership and our collaborative work with the National Geographic Society to form a Geotourism destination for the Border Lakes
region of Minnesota and Ontario. After I was finished, Vance Martin,
President of the WILD Foundation, came up to me to say that is exactly
the kind of work we need to be doing in order to preserve the Boundary
Waters not just for now, but for the long haul.
The two things I got out of the conference were the fact that the
Friends has our strategic focus in the right areas - preventing mining
within the watershed of the wilderness, and building the next generation
of wilderness stewards and advocates - and the prevalence of
the tension between the need to FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT and
collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. The Fight always seems to be
louder! Both of these realizations made me hopeful that our work is on
the right track, and that the parts of our work that are challenging are
things that all wilderness advocates are struggling with.
No one can say the Friends has not been fighting on the sulfide
mining issue over the last five years. Even a cursory look at our staff time
and resource allocation shows it is consistently our number one issue.
The Friends board and staff consider it the largest conservation issue for
the wilderness of our generation. It will remain so until permanent
protections are gained for the watershed. It is how, when and where we
choose to fight that is critical as we strive to meet our mission of a protected and safe wilderness. In this we choose strategic battles and work
to gain the most allies in the right places to reach our goal. It is here that
collaborating comes into play.
Rest assured, the Friends collaborates where we can and fights where
we must to preserve the Boundary Waters we cherish. It was nice to
know that so many at the National Wilderness Conference and the Lake
Superior Wilderness Conference in Duluth recognized and respected the
Friends recent work. I came away feeling secure in the knowledge that
the Friends are on the right track with our strategic priorities of preventing
mining within the wilderness watershed and promoting the value
of wilderness to a new generation, assisting them in their efforts to
cherish and preserve it for the next fifty years.!

Welcome our new

Northern Communities
Program Director Tonia Kittelson
Were pleased to announce that
Tonia Kittelson has joined the
Friends staff as Northern Communities Program Director. Tonia
started in mid-November and
is based in Duluth.
Tonia has spent her life
protecting waters, woods,
wildlife and prairies through
Northern Communities Program
education, collaborative projects,
Director Tonia Kittelson
and community engagement.
She knows the BWCAW well from leading month-long wilderness
expeditions for five years with Voyageur Outward Bound School,
which has been based at the edge of the wilderness for fifty years.
Tonia received her BS from the University of Minnesota, focusing
on natural resource management and conflict resolution,
environmental education, and outdoor recreation. Her Masters in
Community Building and Leadership Skills is from the College of the
Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. In her professional role as the Director
of Leadership and Engagement at the College of the Atlantic, Tonia
designed and managed programs, budgets, logistics, and fundraising
for a wilderness education program for six years.
With over 900 days afield (over half of these in the BWCAW), Tonia
brings a broad perspective to effectively managing natural resources
and human demands. She has explored wild areas in Minnesota,
Maine, Texas, Mexico, Norway, Costa Rica, and Canada and seen a
vast array of governmental, private industry, non-profit, and citizen
organization approaches to land and water management.
As a skilled facilitator, Tonia excels at listening to people and
understanding various perspectives. She has helped lead collaborative natural resource projects with the National Park Service, county
and municipal boards, private timber companies, colleges, community organizations, and citizens. Tonia is also familiar with using conservation easements and land acquisition to protect natural areas and
volunteers with The Nature Conservancy to do so at the watershed
and landscape levels. You can find Tonia working where people and
nature meet, and playing outside.
Please welcome Tonia to the Friends and watch for her in northern
Minnesota, working to protect the Boundary Waters.!

Friends Wish List

Donate resources to help us accomplish our work:
Northern Minnesota is slippery in the winter! If you have
a 4WD truck or vehicle youd be willing to donate for our
Northern Communities work, please contact Cori at
612-332-9630 or cori@friends-bwca.org
Thank you to the members who donated in the last year.!

02

How many miles is 22,616 rods?

Policy Update
By Betsy Daub, Policy Director

Twin Metals
On November 3, the Chilean company that was a partner in the
proposed mine at the edge of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, took
over the entire mine project. Antofagasta acquired from its Canadian
partner, Duluth Metals, the rights to 100 percent of the proposed
Twin Metals project. The acquisition is being called a "friendly
takeover." What it means for the development of this proposed mine
is not yet certain. What has not changed is the high risk of developing
a sulfide mine in the water-rich environment next to the BWCAW. The
Friends maintains this is not an appropriate location for such a polluting kind of industry, and we continue to work with policymakers
to help them understand the risks.

PolyMet Comments

Volunteers clearing portages in the BWCAW.

Photo: Wilderness Volunteers

Dont bother getting out your calculator - its about 70 miles. Its also
the length of portage trails that volunteers brushed and cleared this
year through the Superior Wilderness Volunteer Connection program.
For the last several years, the Friends has partnered with the Superior National Forest and REI to administer this program connecting
volunteers who want to give back to the wilderness with opportunities and training. Since wilderness work is challenging and the tools
are somewhat specialized (two-person cross cut saws, for example),
a formal program like this one is essential.
In 2014, volunteers working through the Superior Wilderness
Volunteer Connection did an amazing amount of work to maintain
portages and campsites in the BWCA.
Volunteers are incredibly important to maintaining the parts of
the BWCA that you might encounter as a visitor. Thanks to them for
all of their hard work, and thanks to REI and Superior National Forest
for partnering with us.!

2014 Volunteer Program

by the Numbers
402
422
614
147
6
48
2
493
22,616
88
919
107
19
5

Days in the field

Campsites surveyed
Campsites maintained
Waterbars cleared
Tent pads rebuilt
Miles of hiking /ski trail cleared
Latrines Repaired
Hazard trees cleared
Rods of portages brushed and cleared
Latrines dug
Trees bucked
Latrine trails cleared/brushed
Firegrates cleaned or reset
Acres of noxious weeds abated

FRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS ! FALL 2014

The lead agencies have identified 567 individual issue "themes"

from reviewing the nearly 58,000 public comments they received on
this proposed sulfide mine near Babbitt, Minnesota. The state and
federal agencies now have the task of trying to address these many
substantive issues. Commissioner Tom Landwehr of the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources has stated that a Final Environmental Impact Statement may be ready for public release in Spring 2015.
A Mining Truth analysis of the public comments showed that more
than 98 percent of the remarks reflected opposition to the mine or
highlighted significant concerns.

PolyMet Land Exchange

As part of the proposed development of the PolyMet Mine, the Superior National Forest is analyzing a land exchange, in which they
would give the mining company over 6,000 public acres of high quality
peatlands for the mine site, and PolyMet would purchase other land to
give to the Forest Service. When the Forest Service considers land exchanges, it must determine that such an action would translate into a
benefit in serving the public interest. The Friends believes as proposed
the exchange does not serve the public interest, and that the Forest
Service has not demonstrated to date that it meets this standard. The
public would lose a contiguous, high-functioning ecosystem in exchange for fragmented parcels. Some of the parcels do not even come
with the mineral rights, meaning future mining conflicts may plague
these sites as well. We continue to discuss these issues with the Superior National Forest and track their deliberation process. Most of this
information is being withheld from public review at this time. The Forest Service tells the Friends this will be available for public review when
the Final Environmental Impact Statement is released if we file a Freedom of Information Request.

Northshore Mining
Northshore Mining, a taconite mining company, has proposed an
expansion of its Peter Mitchell mine pit that would expose significant
amounts of sulfide rock. Potentially polluted mine drainage would flow
toward the BWCAW. The Friends submitted formal comments on the
Environmental Assessment Worksheet for this project, and urged that
a more detailed Environmental Impact Statement be prepared. We
believe greater analysis and mitigation measures are required for this
proposed project in order to protect clean water, important wildlife
habitat, and the BWCAW and surrounding communities.!

03

Meet our Interns

Every year, we have several interns that work on projects for the
Friends and gain experience and confidence in conservation leadership. Its part of our work to develop the next generation of
wilderness stewards.
Arielle Johnson is thrilled to be the
Community Outreach Intern with the
Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness this fall! Her main project has
involved conducting cabin owner
outreach to over 7,000 landowners in
the Arrowhead region. In an effort to
reach out to individuals and families
who live on the edge of the wilderness,
the Friends will be hosting community
gatherings to effectively engage people directly affected by mining.
These listening sessions will give northern community members an
opportunity to voice their concerns, ideas, and reflections about the
region. Gatherings are scheduled to take place in the Twin Cities
throughout January and February, as well as up North this summer.
Before interning with the Friends, Arielle studied psychology and
environmental science at St. Olaf College, where she developed her
passion for social justice and protecting and preserving the environment. In addition to the internship, Arielle is currently working
at Neighborhood House, a nonprofit community center on the West
Side of St. Paul. As College Access Coordinator, Arielle organizes and
facilitates all college-related services for Neighborhood House participants and manages community outreach and engagement for the
College Access Program. Arielle is an avid cyclist, an enthusiastic
volunteer for MPR, and a lover of the outdoors.
Allison Dobscha grew up in Portland,
Oregon. I loved spending time outdoors,
hiking and camping around the rainy
Northwest. As a senior at Macalester
College in Saint Paul, I have been lucky
to be able to spend the last three years
exploring all that Minnesota has to
offer. In the summer of 2013, I worked
as a crew leader for the Conservation
Corps of Minnesota, building trail features and pulling invasive plants alongside my crew of high school students This past summer, I carried my passion for environmental
education with me to Houston, Texas, where I interned with the
Student Conservation Association, creating a local curriculum for
SCAs urban high school program.
At Macalester, I am majoring in English literature with minors in
Biology and Hispanic Studies. I recently led an orientation trip for
incoming Macalester freshman to the Boundary Waters. We discussed
their fears and hopes around a campfire, sang in our canoes on a
windy lake, and listened to loons in the distance. I cannot imagine
a better way to begin my final year of college.
I am excited to be working on a variety of tasks and projects for the
Friends this fall, from assisting with membership materials and
communications to expanding a report on the potential effects of the
proposed Twin Metals project. I helped develop the Friends new
legacy giving program, and am enjoying taking part in staff meetings,
dynamic discussions, and events like Brews and Canoes and the Annual
Gathering. My internship thus far has taught me much about advocacy,
development, and the daily operations of an environmental nonprofit,
and I look forward to the rest of my semester with the Friends.!

04

What is it like to attend a Heart of

the Continent Partnership meeting?
By Allison Dobscha and Arielle Johnson, Friends Interns

Quarterly meeting for the Heart of the Continent Partnership.

In November we had the privilege of taking part in a quarterly meeting

for the Heart of the Continent Partnership, a coalition of Canadian
and American organizations working together to sustain the economy,
ecosystems, and culture of the Ontario/Northeastern Minnesota
region. Before the HOCP meeting, we expected to simply sit, listen,
and absorb everything we could from upcoming meetings and events.
We did not initially anticipate that our own voices and opinions would
be valued and encouraged by the HOCP participants, but we were
pleasantly surprised to find they really wanted the input of young people.
It was good to have a forum to voice the importance of teaching
young people about conservation both in the wilderness and at home,
and the need to engage communities of color. We brainstormed ideas
for how to better educate children and families about the kinds of
outdoor activities available in this beautiful part of the continent.
We were proud to be included in this discussion and to find that we
had opinions worth contributing. These conversations are common in
the Friends office, but we were excited and energized by how many organizations were interested in tackling the same issues through collaboration as well. HOCP struck us as a unique group, committed to
dialogue even in the face of challenges and boundaries. Our experience
at the meeting genuinely raised our hopes for the future of environmental problem solving, and for our own roles in it.!
The Heart of the Continent Partnership
(HOCP) is a Canadian/American coalition
of land managers and local stakeholders
working together on cross-border projects that promote the economic, cultural and natural health of the lakes, forests and communities on the Minnesota/Ontario border. Since 2009, over 90
organizations have participated in HOCP meeting or initiatives.

Whats HOCP working on now?

National Geographic Geotourism Initiative Heart of the
Continent Partnership has raised the funds and is working with
National Geographic Maps to launch the new binational
geotourism website for the Heart of the Continent in Spring
2015. Geotourism focuses on the unique landscapes,
communities, places, and people that make an area special. Do
you have suggestions for travelers and tourists? You can
nominate your favorite place or local business right now
at: www.traveltheheart.org.
Volunteer Connection HOCP maintains a webpage with
volunteer opportunities on public lands on both sides of the
border. If youre interested in volunteering to do trail or
campsite maintenance, check it out.
Go to heartofthecontinent.org to learn more.!

Brews and Canoes

is a blockbuster success
If you missed our sold out Brews
and Canoes award event in
September, you missed a great
time and a chance to toast the 50th
Anniversary of the Wilderness Act
with fellow BWCA lovers. Nine
Minnesota craft breweries competed in five judged categories,
and the 200 attendees voted for
their favorite in the Spirit of the
Boundary Waters category. The
Brews and Canoes winners from
Mankato Brewery.
highest scoring beer of the night
was Leaf Raker Nut Brown Ale by Mankato Brewery, winning
the top prize, the LEtoile du Nord award.
Media coverage of the event was extensive, and allowed us to reach
tens of thousands of people with a message celebrating the Boundary
Waters, the Wilderness Act, and reinforcing the value of both. Over
ten million times, people were exposed to a message on television,
newspapers, or online during the run up to the event.
The connection between Minnesotas craft brewing industry and
the wilderness is strong. Brewers across the country have taken a stand
for clean water. Several of Minnesotas craft beer brands (like Bent Paddle in Duluth and Indeed Brewing in Minneapolis) are built around
adventure and exploration. And in the end, it seemed right to raise a
toast to the Wilderness Act. For all of these reasons, we were thrilled
to work with breweries to raise the profile of the Boundary Waters.
As we went around the room chatting with brewers, every one of
them felt a strong and direct connection to the Boundary Waters. As one
brewer said, we get invitations to events like this all the time, but we
really wanted to do this one because it was about the Boundary Waters.
Watch for future Brews and Canoes events. This one was a huge
success, and were thinking of ways we can something like it again
very soon. Congratulations to all of the winning breweries and thanks
to all who came and made this a special night!!

Brews and Canoes Winners

Best Northern Lights
Light-bodied, light-colored beers including
but not limited to lagers and pilsners
Lift Bridge Brewery Getaway Pilsner
Best Night Skies
Heavy-bodied, dark-colored beers
including but not limited to ales and stouts
Mankato Brewery Leaf Raker Nut Brown Ale
Fish Frys Finest
Best beer pairing with a shore lunch
Indeed Brewing Day Tripper Pale Ale
Best Campfire Companion
Best beer to drink around a campfire with friends
Lift Bridge Chestnut Hill Brown Ale
Call of the Wild
Most pioneering brew or experimental beer
Bent Paddle Brewing/Fitgers Brewhouse
Red Smoke Rye Ale
Spirit of the Boundary Waters
As chosen by Brews and Canoes tasting event guests
Dangerous Man Brewing Company Imperial Hemp
Brown Ale & Lake Monster Empty Rowboat IPA Firkin (tie)

FRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS ! FALL 2014

Photo Contest Winner

We got this great photo from Carin Mrotz, who won our Facebook
Photo Contest this summer. It features her son Henry, the subject of
the winning photo, holding the framed print that was the top prize.!

Friends Raises $43k

on Give to the Max Day
Each year, Minnesotans and people across
the country have the unique opportunity
to pitch in and offer support for the
organizations, issues, and places that are
important to them. This year was no
different. On November 13, donors like
you inspired a state and energized thousands of nonprofit organizations.
Through our member and public
support, the Friends raised over $43,000
on Give to the Max Day this year! These
funds will go directly toward our work on sulfide mining, wilderness
education, and building the next generation of advocates for
the BWCAW.
Thank you to everyone who participated, plugged-in, and spread
the word. You make our work possible and we are grateful for
your support.!

05

Amy and Dave Freeman Complete

100 Day Paddle to D.C.

Friends Annual Gathering Looks

Back at Fifty Years of Wilderness

Amy and Dave Freeman paddling out of Duluth harbor in September.

Jaime Pinkham addresses Friends members.

The Friends Annual Gathering was held on November 6th and was a
wonderful evening of fellowship, reflection on the value of wilderness, and the long journey to keep it wild.
The night featured honors for the dedicated service of outgoing
Board Chair Pete Fleming, and for Loll Designs, winner of the Friends
Annual Conservation Award. Loll is a Duluth-based company that uses
recycled materials to manufacture outdoor furniture and kitchen accessories. Loll has also been a 1% for the Planet partner of the Friends
for several years.
The keynote speaker was Jaime Pinkham, Native Nations Vice President for the Bush Foundation and board member of the Wilderness
Society and American Rivers. His speech Standing at the Looking
Back Place, stressed the importance of looking back at our successes
in protecting wilderness, but also the importance of looking forward
to protect wilderness for generations yet to come.
In his words:

The Freemans portaging Sig past the Washington Monument.

Photo credit: Nate Ptacek

An amazing journey to bring awareness of the threat that sulfide

mining poses to the Boundary Waters has reached a successful
conclusion.
Amy and Dave Freeman, 2014 National Geographic Adventurers
of the Year, just completed their 100 day journey to deliver
petitions from Ely to Washington D.C. on December 3rd. U.S.
Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell accepted Sig, their petition
canoe, to be displayed in the Forest Service building. The petition
calls for the protection of the Boundary Waters from sulfide mining
proposals like Twin Metals. After delivering their petition, Dave,
Amy, and about other forty Minnesotans visited with political
leaders across D.C. to tell them about the need to protect the
Boundary Waters from this threat.
The Friends of the Boundary Waters, along with thirteen other
organizations, are members of the Campaign to Save the Boundary
Waters. We work with this coalition and many others (like Mining
Truth and the Minnesota Environmental Partnership) to protect the
BWCA from sulfide mining.
Congratulations Dave and Amy! Thanks for paddling, sailing, and
portaging the message that the BWCA needs to be protected all the
way from Minnesota to the halls of Congress.!

06

Someday, my granddaughters will have grandchildren who will be students of my history. What will they
learn? Will they learn about how we failed to act, or
how poorly we acted? Or will they learn about how we
were qualified in our time to overcome divisiveness and
collectively respond to our challenges with honesty and
hard work? And, if there is unfinished work it will
be their generation who will inherit these tasks, and
let it be a generation that also inherits a legacy of
understanding and respect.
You may hear some Indian people talk of the Seventh
Generation. That being the generation we focus our
effort towards, to prepare this world for them. Measured
by time it is far from our reach, but measured by our
actions today it is well within our touch. So, our greatest
honor is not by celebrating among ourselves today.
The greatest honor lingers in the future when our grandchildren pause to look back and say, Our elders, our
grandmothers and grandfathers, did do it right.
Thanks to Jaime Pinkham, Pete Fleming, Loll Designs and all of
the members who joined us.!

New Holiday Gift Memberships

This year, the Friends is offering Special Gift Membership
Packages. Each membership purchased through our holiday
drive, includes a bonus gift. To place your order, use the form
below or visit: www.friends-bwca.org.!

Looking for a unique and meaningful gift this holiday season?

Gift Memberships are an easy way to show your support and
involve your loved ones in our work to protect and preserve
the BWCAW.

Order Form
2014 Holiday Gift Membership
Each gift package includes a year-long membership to the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness
and holiday gift. All taxes and shipping costs are included in package pricing.
Please indicate shipping information below.

Member Packages
QTY

GIFT
CODE

Friends
Magnet

PACKAGES

$15 Little Paddler Package includes Friends Logo Magnet

$30 Adventurers Package includes Friends Logo Iron-on Patch

$30 Writers Package includes Friends Logo Journal

$30 Brews & Canoes Package includes Friends Logo Bottle Cooler

$50 Campfire Package includes Friends Logo Ceramic Mug

Subtotal (add packages and quantities from above)

Additional tax-deductible donation to the Friends (optional)

TOTAL (include payment information below)

Friends
Ceramic
Mug

Friends
Iron-on
Embroidered
Patch

Friends
Bottle
Cooler

Friends
Journal

Order Information
PURCHASER NAME(S)

E MAIL

BILLING ADDRESS

GIFT CODE

PHONE

Payment Information
I would like to pay via: Check Make checks payable to Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness
Credit Card
NAME ON CARD

CARD #

EXP DATE

Shipping Information

Submit Order Form and payment to:

Ship my order to the billing address above

Ship my order directly to the Gift Recipients below

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness

401 North 3rd Street, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401
info@friends-bwca.org

Gift Recipient Information

NAME

ADDRESS

GIFT CODE

NAME

ADDRESS

GIFT CODE

ADDRESS

GIFT CODE

NAME

If ordering more than 3 Gift Memberships, please contact us at: info @ friends-bwca.org or 612-332-9630. Thank you.

FRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS ! FALL 2014

07

401 N. Third Street, Suite 290

Non-Profit

Minneapolis, MN 55401-1475

Organization
U.S. Postage Paid

P: 612.332.9630

Twin Cities, MN

Address Service Requested

Permit No. 4068

friends-bwca.org

100%
From well-managed forests
www.fsc.org Cert no. BV-COC-940655
1996 Forest Stewardship Council

The Friends of the Boundary Waters newsletter

is printed on paper using 100% post-consumer waste,
processed chlorine free.
Design and production donated in part by
Mike Tincher, T DESIGN

STAFF:

Paul Danicic, Executive Director

Betsy Daub, Policy Director
Tonia Kittelson, Northern Communities
Program Director
Aaron Klemz, Communications and
Engagement Director
Cori Mattke, Membership and
Operations Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Nicholas Banovetz
Margo Brownell
Dodd Cosgrove, Treasurer
Mark Hennessy
Steve Hoffman
Dick Krueger
Tim Lewis
Tom Mahlum, Chair
Dan Pauly, Vice Chair
Matt Poppleton, Secretary
Steve Safranski
Sue Schurke
Kim Young
HONORARY BOARD MEMBERS:

Richard Flint
ADVISORY COUNCIL:

Chel Anderson
Lee Frelich
Frank Jewell
Lynn McClure
Steve Piragis

Minnesota Environmental Fund

Helps Protect the BWCAW

If your company does not have MEF as a giving option,

please contact Friends at 612-332-9630.

Winter Wilderness Weekend

January 16-19, 2015
This winter, take a snowy adventure on the Gunflint
Trail and join the Friends for the 5th Annual
Winter Weekend at YMCA Camp Menogyn.
The Winter Weekend provides the opportunity to
spend four days skiing, snowshoeing, playing in the snow,
and exploring the wilderness in its coolest season. It's a
great way to get outdoors and get to know other Friends
members and staff. All programming, meals, and lodging
are included in the price of admission - $195 for adults,
$100 for youth, and free for kids under 6 years of age.!
Registration is ongoing and spaces are limited.
For more information, visit our website or give us a
call at 612-332-9630.

Leave A Legacy
Keep the Wilderness Forever Wild
The Friends is excited to introduce the new Forever Wild Society, a league of donors recognized
for their commitment to supporting the Boundary Waters through planned giving.
Benefits of membership include special updates and communications from the Friends office,
invitations to private events, and the knowledge that your contributions will help us ensure the
long-term protection of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. By including the Friends in your estate
plans, you will continue to provide the necessary funding for our ongoing projects including our
work on sustainable development in northern communities, campsite and portage management
in the wilderness, internship opportunities for young advocates, and the sponsorship of conservation focused youth paddling experiences.
Designating the Friends in your will is not difficult, and we are happy to discuss planned giving
options with you. We hope you will help us ensure that the wilderness has an advocate for years
to come, and that our grandchildren are able to enjoy the same life-changing Boundary Waters
experiences we have known.
If you have already made a bequest to the Friends, please let us know so we can thank you
for your contribution and welcome you to the Forever Wild Society. !